Simon Pickstone
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simonpickstone.bsky.social
Simon Pickstone
@simonpickstone.bsky.social
200 followers 450 following 92 posts
Environmental journalist at ENDS Europe (@endseurope.com)
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simonpickstone.bsky.social
Astonishing to me walking around south London yesterday how badly the posher streets smelled of wood smoke -- probably no more than a couple of houses that have become major emitters of particulate matter in my neighbourhood...
hoxtonrich.bsky.social Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1d
Progress in theory but as long as you allow domestic wood burning in cities at all, nuances around what and how people are permitted to burn are basically unenforceable in practice. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Wood-burning stoves to face partial ban in Labour’s updated environment plan
Exclusive: Pollution targets set out alongside nature recovery projects to allay concerns over housebuilding
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:55 AM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
We've heard that some people in the NGO world are using ChatGPT to 'summarise' our articles -- as a quick health warning, it genuinely doesn't seem to be able to get behind the paywall, but will generate totally bogus material instead!
November 27, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
pippaneill.bsky.social
The UK government has been accused of using 'Trumpian shock tactics' at a recent UN meeting and destabilising the whole of the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism - one of the only legally binding global instruments on environmental democracy

www.endsreport.com/article/1940...
Aarhus Convention: UK accused of using ‘Trumpian shock tactics’ at UN meeting
The UK government has been accused of destabilising the whole of the Aarhus Convention compliance mechanism – a key global environmental agreement – after it refused to endorse a committee’s findings ...
www.endsreport.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
tarrasvalleynr.bsky.social
Some beautiful shots of resident Lakeland Fell ponies Stan, Dan and Paddy. They have been really thriving on the rough hill pastures on Tarras Valley and doing a fantastic job helping to regenerate the grassland habitats!

📷 Faith Garvey
October 29, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
drsimevans.carbonbrief.org
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned

Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)

What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts

www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
it's happened again
November 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
emmanuelspv.bsky.social
Avant / Après la végétalisation et les arbres plantés Rue de Toulouse dans le 19ème arrondissement de Paris
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
dsquareddigest.bsky.social
Oh wow really? Do you not follow American politics? Do you think New York is just another foreign municipality? Shall we tell everyone? Should we throw a party? Should we invite Zohran Mamdani?
November 5, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
james-bg.bsky.social
The thing that bothers me most about David Beckham's knighthood is that global emissions and temperatures are continuing to spiral upwards ushering in an era of rolling climate disasters, food insecurity, ecosystem collapse, and forced migration. www.businessgreen.com/news/4521345...
'Emissions Gap': UN admits world will exceed 1.5C goal, 'very likely within the next decade'
Latest official analysis of national climate pledges delivers only marginal reduction in projected temperature increases that are set to far exceed 2C goal
www.businessgreen.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
taradaneese.bsky.social
We are a society haunted by the constant declarations of “I’ll never need this math class in real life.”
November 4, 2025 at 10:32 AM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
Fully agree with this from @ivancouronne.bsky.social. If you want a report to recieve media coverage, releasing it during or in the run-up to a major event is one of those ideas that seems good but is actually terrible!
Ivan Couronne, AFP Future of the Planet global editor, LinkedIn post: "Once again, we’re seeing many environmental/climate institutions, research organizations, think tanks and NGOs timing the release of their reports just before or during hashtag#COP30. I wish we could cover all the valuable new data and insights being published, but doing so would essentially require AFP reporters to spend all of their time on reports rather than on what’s actually happening at COP. For some major reports, like those from UNEP or the Global Carbon Project, the timing makes sense. But for many others, wouldn’t it have more impact to release them a few weeks earlier? I’m sure comms teams are already thinking about this, but the reality is that much of what comes out in the next three weeks just won’t get covered.
November 3, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
jacktindale.bsky.social
Full credit to Politico for continuing to employ a guy who usually does slightly off Disney characters on ice cream vans as their artist-in-residence.
October 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social
Big China electricity&industial data update🧵for September:
➡️Power generation from coal and gas dropped 5%, for a 1.2% fall in the first nine months of the year.
➡️Crude steel production fell by 5% and cement output by 9% in Sep, accelerating from 3% and 5% drops year-to-date.
October 20, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
solarchase.bsky.social
61. If you record PV capacity and only have room for one figure, record MW(DC), the module capacity. It tells you more about what the project will produce, how much land it needs, and what it will cost than MW(AC), which is just the size of the wire. I will die on this seemingly obscure hill.
October 20, 2025 at 8:05 AM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
I love everything about this European Court of Justice case
curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/...
Judgment of the Court in Case C-218/24 | Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España (Concept of ‘baggage’) Air carrier liability: pets are not excluded from the concept of ‘baggage’ On 22 October 2019, a passenger travelled with her mother and her pet (a dog) on a flight from Buenos Aires (Argentina) to Barcelona (Spain). The flight was operated by the airline Iberia. Due to its size and weight, the dog was to travel in the hold, in a pet carrier. During check-in, the passenger did not make a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination concerning the baggage. The dog escaped while being carried to the plane and could not be recovered. The passenger claimed compensation in the amount of €5,000 for the non-material damage suffered following the loss of her dog. Iberia accepts its liability and the entitlement to compensation, but within the limit laid down for checked baggage.
October 16, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
josiahmortimer.bsky.social
Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.
September 30, 2025 at 7:39 PM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
incredible things are happening on LinkedIn, where someone is trying to persuade EU environment commissioner Jessika Roswall that having PFAS in her bloodstream may be Good Actually
LinkedIn post from environment commissioner Jessika Roswall that reads: In July, I took a blood test to check if and how much PFAS is in my body. Why? Because PFAS — often called “forever chemicals” — are a growing public health and environmental concern. This initiative was made by the Danish Presidency together with European Environmental Bureau and ChemSec. I, together with European ministers, took PFAS tests to raise awareness about the risks these chemicals pose. PFAS are used in everything from industrial processes to everyday consumer products. Their durability makes them valuable in key sectors, including the green transition — but that same durability means they don’t break down. They stay in our soil, water, air, wildlife — and in our bodies. This is not just a personal issue — it’s a public one. A Dutch study showed that nearly everyone in the Netherlands has PFAS in their blood, often at levels above what’s considered safe. And this pattern is seen across Europe. At the EU level, we European Commission are committed to reducing the use of PFAS. We’re working towards a ban on PFAS in consumer products, and wherever safer alternatives exist, they should be used. We need to reduce PFAS use — and we need to clean our environment from these “forever chemicals.” 🧪 When I took the test, I promised to share my results. And here they are: Yes, I do have PFAS in my body. I tested positively on 6 out of 13 PFAS. And 3 out of those 6 are officially classified as toxic for reproductive health. This only strengthens my resolve to keep working for stronger action at the European level. Translation of reply reads: How relevant is the statement that she has PFAS in her blood to her health? Epidemiologically, there is no evidence that this leads to higher cancer rates. According to the cancer registry, the district of Altötting even has lower cancer rates than the rest of Bavaria. And the proven dampening effect on the immune system could perhaps even have positive effects, because many diseases are caused by an excessive immune response. It would be nice if the EU would finally take action based on solid toxicological and epidemiological facts and not on the basis of ‘I have PFAS in my blood’ grrr! Original reads: Welche Relevanz hat die Aussage, dass sie PFAS im Blut hat für ihre Gesundheit? Epidemiologisch gibt es keine Beweise, dass das zu höheren Krebsraten führt, im Lkr. AÖ gibt es laut Krebsregister sogar niedrigere Krebsraten als im Rest Bayerns. Und der nachgewiesene dämpfende Effekt auf das Immunsystem könnte vielleicht sogar positive Auswirkungen haben weil viele Krankheiten auf eine überschießende Immunreaktion zurückzuführen sind. Es wäre schön, wenn die EU endlich mal auf der Basis solider toxikologischer und epidemiologischer Fakten vorgehen wird und nicht aufgrund von "ich habe PFAS im Blut" grrr!
September 30, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
matthannon.bsky.social
That background hum is bees, not traffic.

Ivy is one seriously important food for insects at this time of year.
September 25, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
tesscolley.bsky.social
🚨🚨Campaigners have called on the government to ban all plastic waste exports following a joint ENDS investigation out yesterday.

It revealed hundreds of boys and men have been killed in recycling factories in Turkey - a top destination for UK waste exports👇
www.endsreport.com/article/1932...
Call for ban on UK plastic waste abroad following true crime investigation
Campaigners have called for the government to ban all plastic waste exports following a joint ENDS investigation that revealed hundreds of boys and men have been killed in recycling factories in Turke...
www.endsreport.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
Today's Big News from the UK feels like a good moment to reshare this classic Mike Skinner clip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue1U...
Mike Skinner Backstage Peter Mandelson Went Mad | Turn The Page Live | The Streets
YouTube video by stan tonkin
www.youtube.com
September 11, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
tesscolley.bsky.social
A bale of plastic.
A mystery body.
A global investigation.

Next week we release something a bit special -
'Boy Wasted' - a new true crime podcast series.

This has been a massive, heart-breaking project!

Please share & subscribe to the Eco Chamber now to get it in your podcast feed.
September 10, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
ember-energy.org
NEW | China’s clean energy boom and rapid electrification are creating the conditions for a FOSSIL DECLINE at home and abroad⚡

Fossil use in end-use sectors plateaued in 2015--while electricity use grew 65%, becoming central to 🇨🇳’s energy system.

https://loom.ly/psjqvhE
September 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
dompreston.com
You can just... not publish this stuff
AI called Maya tells Guardian: ‘When I’m told I’m just code, I don’t feel insulted. I feel unseen’
Cofounder with Michael Samadi of AI rights campaign group Ufair says it should watch over the technology in case an AI becomes conscious
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:14 AM
simonpickstone.bsky.social
A thing I genuinely can't get my head around is that you can still buy old railway sleepers for your garden. Like, the EU specifically bans the use of creosote-treated wood in parks and gardens, and specifically mentions plant containers, because it contains such a nasty bunch of chemicals...
Snippet from the REACH Regulation restriction entry for creosate stating: "3. Treated wood referred to under paragraph 2(b) and (c) shall not be used: — inside buildings, whatever their purpose, — in toys, — in playgrounds, — in parks, gardens, and outdoor recreational and leisure facilities where there is a risk of frequent skin contact, — in the manufacture of garden furniture such as picnic tables, — for the manufacture and use and any re-treatment of: — — containers intended for growing purposes, — packaging that may come into contact with raw materials, intermediate or finished products destined for human and/or animal consumption, — other materials which may contaminate the articles mentioned above." A sales listing for creosote-treated railway sleepers stating that they are "Ideal for Steps, Raised beds, Decking, Patios, Borders, Lawn, Paver & Driveway Edging"
August 7, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Simon Pickstone
dsquareddigest.bsky.social
They paved paradise and put up medium density housing served by light rail
August 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM